Now You See Me 2: Film Review

Now You See Me 2: Film Review

Cast: Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, Mark Ruffalo, Lizzie Kaplan, Dave Franco, Morgan Freeman, Daniel Radcliffe, Michael Caine
Director: Jon M Chu

It’s all about sleight of hand in the sequel to 2013’s NowYou See Me.

And much like the central illusionists themselves, behind the smoke and mirrors, there’s not as much going on as perhaps you may imagine in this slickly distracting film.

In Now You See Me 2, the band of magicians, the Four Horsemen have been forced undercover after their last heist.  With Isla Fisher’s Henley taking flight from them, the trio of Daniel Atlas, the presumed dead Jack Wilder and Merrit McKinney (Eisenberg, Franco and Harrelson respectively) find their group hit up by Lizzie Caplan’s Lula, who’s desperate to join their number. 

With their ringleader, the FBI mole Dylan Rhodes (Mark Ruffalo), they plan to spring back to the public attention by exposing a tech boss who’s about to launch a new product and who’s been misusing private details.

But the tables are turned on the gang, when someone reveals them at the launch, forcing Dylan on the run and sending the remaining Horsemen to Macau and into the domain of Daniel Radcliffe’s Walter. Under pressure to steal a chip that can access any computer in the world (bonjour, MacGuffin), the group’s got to overcome their own fractures to save themselves and the day…

As ever, it's about the misdirection in this slickly executed caper once again, but equally, character takes second fiddle to the set pieces. Once-over-lightly characters again thrive throughout; Eisenberg's Atlas is given an ounce of jealousy, Harrelson's McKinney is saddled with a bouffanted, tanned and toothy twin; and Ruffalo's Rhodes is landed with an emotional arc where he seeks vengeance for his father's death all those years ago.

While Radcliffe really makes little difference to the film as a rather wet behind the ears villain, it's a refreshing Kaplan whose place in the sequel gives it the life and energy that's sorely needed throughout. Perky and enthusiastic, she gives the film the zing that a sequel deserves, where the plot sags and appears tired.

Admittedly, as with the first, much of the film is about the set pieces and Chu delivers a central sequence involving a card and a chip inside a secure institute that whirls past the eyes. Flashy and slick, it's certainly a sign that the prestidigitation of illusionists can keep you entertained; but as ever, it comes down to editing and choreography (it's no surprise David Copperfield is involved behind the scenes).

Slickly entertaining, and more a sequel that doesn't really need to exist, there's no denying that Now You See Me 2 will amuse those looking for popcorn entertainment and who enjoyed the first. Whether the trick is on the audience though is another matter - much like the first, once the razzle dazzle of the illusion is stared at for too long, this watchable heist caper that's essentially a retread of the first and which turns some of those conclusions on their head, begins to crumble in the light of day.

Steve Jobs: DVD Review

Steve Jobs: DVD Review

Rating: M
Released by Universal Home Ent

There's just something about Steve Jobs that continues to fascinate.

Books and an Ashton Kutcher movie and a planned Alex Gibney doco, the well is yet to dry up.

127 Hours and Slumdog Millionaire Director Danny Boyle is the latest to fall under his thrall in the slightly unusual bio-pic about the man, based on Walter Isaacson's biography.

Centring around three product launches in Jobs' life the film throws as much personal drama backstage as the kitchen sink will allow.

Beginning in 1984 with the Apple Macintosh's launch, then spiralling to 1988's ill-fated NeXT computer launch and ending up in 1998's unveiling of the iMac, it centres more around the arrogance of Steve Jobs and his treatment of those around him in what is essentially a three-act play with as much hubris as you'd expect from a Shakespeare play.

With a terrific score from Daniel Pemberton, this essentially stage set piece works very well for its first 2 sections before tying everything up neatly in a syrupy sentimental bow that appears to betray everything which went before. 

When it boils down to it, Danny Boyle's Steve Jobs is more about the pivotal relationship between Jobs and his daughter Lisa through the launches and very little else. Sure, other dramas such as Voice demos failing and Wozniak's quest for recognition for the Apple 2 team come and go but they all swirl around the vortex at the centre of Jobs' life.

Fassbender's never anything short of commanding as Jobs

He makes sure that the arrogance and seething inability to act like a human are front and centre of this portrayal. There's never anything less than an unlikeable man on the screen - and despite Rogen's humanising Wozniak trying to get him to see the bigger picture and focus on the people, Fassbender's Jobs is an aloof dictator, caught up in his own delusions of grandeur and single-mindedly determined to get to his destination or ensure his machinations are personally successful. 
Which is potentially why the third act's resolution during the iMac launch jars so badly as it races to ensure a happier ending - bizarrely, his arc is never earned and despite the performance of all involved, never one that calls for cinematic closure. (One of Steve Jobs' more pressing problems is the fact the film feels cold and emotionally aloof).

Winslet's empathetic as Joanna, his much-maligned work wife and effective spin doctor; Daniels is nothing more than an impressive analyst of Jobs' behaviour as the CEO of Apple John Sculley who appears from time to time and Rogen throws some dramatic weight behind Wozniak and gets to the nub of the apparent love and daily frustration with the man (in fact, it's never looked like a truer fraternal relationship than on this screen).

While Sorkin's trademark dialogue is in place (and lots of walking and talking), it never feels as fully accomplished as perhaps it might and if anything, suffers from an over-polish and the fact situations have to manifest themselves at the most inopportune moments. This is not always a film that feels like anything more than a hyper-real collision of coincidence, a coming together of events for dramatic gain rather than naturalistic purposes.

And yet, there are moments when the human condition comes to the fore and events play out in those traditional Sorkin tropes - a major downfall of a character is choreographed to soaring scores and constant rain; it's unmistakably and undeniably a Sorkin joint from beginning to end. (And having written Mark Zuckerberg in the Social Network, his second look at a major character from the zeitgeist).

As Jobs himself remarks, "I play the orchestra" and it's a role that Danny Boyle fulfills admirably as the director in this movie. Events naturally build to a crescendo of chaos, a whirlwind of melodrama and a discourse of dialogue, but Boyle elegantly manipulates them all into place to ensure the biopic is elevated from the usual fare.

Sherlock Holmes: The Devil's Daughter - Story Trailer

Sherlock Holmes: The Devil's Daughter - Story Trailer

Bigben Interactive, the video game publisher and distributor, and the studio Frogwares have released a new video inviting you to discover a bit more of the main intrigue in Sherlock Holmes: The Devil’s Daughter. Already available for pre-order, the game is set for release June 10th, 2016, on PlayStation®4, Xbox One and PC.

In this new video the famous detective's daily life is quickly shaken by events: wracked by doubt over her past, Sherlock’s young daughter seems to be growing more and more distant, while apparently unrelated investigations come one after the other. A vast plot would seem to be taking shape… Can one suspect not hide another, after all?

Sherlock Holmes: The Devil’s Daughter is a unique adventure game that blends exploration, investigation and action for a breath-taking and fantastic playing experience. You play as the master detective himself, plunged against his will into a fantastic adventure brimming with intense action sequences for an interactive experience that is more immersive than ever. Roam the streets of Victorian London in search of clues and suspects, and untangle the threads of multiple intrigues until you reach the incredible final revelation.

 


 

Deadpool: DVD Review

Deadpool: DVD Review

Rating: M
Released by 20th Century Fox Home Ent

The tone for Deadpool is set within its very opening moments.

There's no denying the Merc with a Mouth's marketing has been off the chain with self-referential frenzy feeding the fanboys' every desire and the promise from Ryan Reynolds that they would stick to the R-rated character like glue.

And in many ways, this origins tale told in a slightly different manner is really Reynolds' showcase - it starts with all guns blazing and with bullet-time action slowed to a halt while looping back and forth between timelines and stories.

Mixing vulgarity with great aplomb and some meta-laugh out loud moments, Reynolds' wise-cracking Wade Wilson is truly the antithesis of po-faced superhero films. Breaking the 4th Wall regularly (although voiceover tends to achieve that effect as well) as the origins of how the former Special Forces mercenary fell in love, got terminal cancer and was part of an experiment gone wrong are unspooled on the big screen, it's clear nothing is off-limits in this scabrous assault on Marvel, the X-Men and even the Taken franchise.

It's blessed with some clever touches; credits that mock the tropes of the genres with titles telling people it includes a British villain, God's perfect creation, mocks the director calling them an overpaid tool and even throws in a Green Lantern trading card as Angel of the Morning plays gleefully on the soundtrack.

It's a film that's clearly in love with itself (as much as the red-clad anti-hero loves himself) and there's no doubt that for large swathes of the movie, it's great fun and perfectly entertaining - if ultimately shallow - fare led mainly by a lead who's prepared to give his all for Deadpool.

But what's not as clear as Reynolds' continual cinematic gusto are the antagonists facing off against him and the overall story. (Even though the narrative is interspersed by zipping through timelines and is there primarily to serve as an intro to the character and service his ego).

Both Ed Skrein and Gina Carano (as Ajax and Angel Dust respectively) are nothing short of charisma-free zones, aimed at sucking only the air from the proceedings as they play out.

Sure, this is an origin story and is entirely Deadpool's from the beginning, but the anti-hero needs to have a credible threat, and quite frankly, this is disturbingly lacking from the film and sets a worrying precedent for any future flicks featuring the world of the wise-quipping Merc with a Mouth.

In this plethora of superhero films, there's no doubting Deadpool is a welcome breeze of foul-smelling, puerile, cinematic air and granted, comic book heroes will never look the same again thanks to the inventive touches, meta-moments and way some tropes have been smashed through.
However, if you're expecting Deadpool to cast the net wider and break out of the fanboy audience and redefine the superhero genre, it may unfortunately struggle to do so.

It's perversely faithful to its perverse source material and there's no disputing the core audience has been well-served by the film, but some may struggle to see why this Merc with a Mouth has nothing more than a cult following. 

Room: Blu Ray Review

Room: Blu Ray Review

Rating: M
Released by Roadshow Home Ent


Director Lenny Abrahamson and author Emma Donoghue's Room explores how life and overt circumstance makes captives of us all in this breath-taking and emotionally wrenching adaptation of her Man Booker Prize winning tome.

Trapped in the titular room, Jacob Temblay's Jack is on the cusp of turning five and opening up his perception of life to something more than the drab reality of the walls that entrench the pair because Ma (Brie Larson, so radiant and stoic in Short Term 12) decides to reveal the truth of room.

Daily routines remind of tales of Josef Fritzl and of doco The Wolfpack (in fact, it can be no coincidence Jack's tresses are as long as those NYC brethren kept within) but for Brie Larson's Joy enough is enough and after seven long years, it is time to escape.

But, with closely framed shots and POV shots of Jack (no doubt to keep the book's young protagonist's central viewpoint), this is no score-blasting, heart-pumping rush for freedom, this cinematic tale is a sickening edge of your seat set-up with taut directing guaranteed to leave you with a knot in your stomach as it plays out.

However, much more than that, Room is actually a story of the lengths a mother will go to for her daughter and what love will do to make the world a better place.

Which is perhaps just as well, given how harrowing the film's subject matter is and how easy it would be to dive down that rabbit hole and never surface. There's an implied dark side of Ma's captivity and it's briefly touched on, but lurks repugnantly in the background with Ma's scenes with her father (William H Macy, who appears all too briefly and who adds a lot via a subtly heart-breaking turn).

And while the occasional over-use of Jack's voiceover teeters dangerously close to grating (and channels Karel Fialka's Hey Matthew's youngster), it is down to both Brie Larson and Jacob Tremblay that Lenny Abrahamson's Room soars from beyond its four-walled compounds and constraints.

It helps the director is able to choreograph the room in different ways that give you a different take on the space each time and the camera's masterfully employed at all times conveying both the claustrophobia and the hope that Ma's swathed Jack in.  It speaks to the strength of the adaptation that the film is one of two halves and while the first half is more powerful, the second lacks none of the resonance it needs.

But Room is nothing without both Brie Larson and Jacob Tremblay.

Channeling both a vulnerability and a strength, Larson is intoxicating from beginning to end as this initially harrowing chamber piece expands its scope beyond its walls. Spinning around her is Tremblay's Jack and it's no wonder that accolades are piling up with this child, as he manages to carry the film and instill the audiences with a sense of hope that's needed to get through the wrench of the darkness.

There's no denying that Room is heart-stopping cinema - it's edge of your seat drama, both heart in mouth sickening and an emotional gut punch. But thanks to its actors, it's more than a drama that demands a lot of its audience; it provides a cinematic ride that's as richly rewarding as it is emotionally exhausting.

Rating:

Newstalk ZB Review - Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2, Money Monster and The Revenant

Newstalk ZB Review - Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2, Money Monster and The Revenant

This week, it was Turtles, Clooney and Leo in the wild on Newstalk ZB with Jack Tame.

Take a listen below.

http://www.newstalkzb.co.nz/on-air/saturday-morning-with-jack-tame/audio/darren-bevan-teenage-mutant-ninja-turtles-out-of-the-shadows-money-monster-and-the-revenant/

http://www.newstalkzb.co.nz/on-air/saturday-morning-with-jack-tame/audio/darren-bevan-teenage-mutant-ninja-turtles-out-of-the-shadows-money-monster-and-the-revenant/

Fear The Walking Dead: Season 1 : Blu Ray Review

Fear The Walking Dead: Season 1 : Blu Ray Review

Rating: M
Released by eOne Ent

The companion series to The Walking Dead is a curious beast.

It suffers from the fact that everyone knows what is coming. given the main show, and yet somehow, it never quite captures the thrust and thrill of what drives the idea.

Set before the global pandemic that released the undead, it centres on Cliff Curtis's Travis, a teacher who finds himself and his family in the midst of a strange day as the virus begins.

Essentially moody and atmospheric but also a little slow at times, the series never quite reaches the potential of the Walking Dead in terms of character and those in the firing line aren't exactly characters you're fully cheering for.

That said, Fear The Walking Dead uses its panic premise well and executes the build up subtly.

The second season is supposed to be longer than these six episodes and it's to be hoped the show builds on its ideas rather than spending time in a military zone that stalls proceedings.

The show needs to develop its characters a little more to give it the edge and it's hoped that if it builds on this, season two could be a real killer.